


Gem Hunting

by Dr_Psyche



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, light rouge/knuckles and sonic/shadow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:21:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23272378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dr_Psyche/pseuds/Dr_Psyche
Summary: GUN discovers a new power Gem hidden by the Echidnas. Rouge and Team Dark set out to claim it before any of the Egg Empire, but they'll need a little help from a certain Echidna and his friends.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	1. New Mission

“We’ve got a problem,” Commander Tower said.

Abraham Tower was speaking to Team Dark in the conference room of the GUN Helicopter. The bat, hedgehog, and Super Badnik watched as he summoned a hologram above the table. 

“After the indecent with the Twilight Cage our scientists have de-encrypted the information retrieved from the Nocturnus Clan,” Tower continued, pulling up images of gems. “One of the procedures Imperator Ix supervised was the combination of a Chaos Emerald with an unknown power Gem to create some kind of super crystal.”

The Gems appeared onscreen.

“We’ve since discovered the identity of the Gem, Anarchy Beryl.”

That really piqued Rouge’s interest. Anarchy Beryl was the Chaos Emerald equivalent from a parallel world called Moebius. A world where Sonic was evil, Robotnik was good, and Knuckles was Irish. It was a strange, horrific world.

“With the combination of both the Chaos Emerald and Anarchy Beryl, a new and extremely dangerous Gem was formed,” Commander Tower continued. “It’s unpredictable nature ultimately caused the Nocturnus Clan to abandon any projects with it.”

“Cowards,” Omega said.

“Nevertheless,” Tower said, ignoring Omega. “It’s still an extremely dangerous artifact to have lying around in the open. The Knuckles Clan was able to steal the Gem and seal it away in a temple. As such, I encourage you to seek out the Guardian of Angel Island and gain his assistance. Good luck, Team Dark.”

When the meeting concluded, the trio left to begin preparations.

“If Knuckles agrees to help us,” Shadow said. “He will most likely not relinquish the Gem. We’d have to fight him for it.”

“Updating Mission parameters,” Omega said. “Acquire assistance of Echidna, Knuckles. Acquire Gem of Unstable Energy. Terminate Echidna, Knuckles.”

“We’re not going to kill Knuckles,” Rouge chastised. 

“Cripple Echidna, Knuckles.”

“Omega, no.”

“Subdue in a non-lethal way.”

“We’re not going to fight him,” Rouge said.

“He might not even want to help us,” Shadow said. “He doesn’t trust GUN or any of us.”

“Oh don’t worry about that,” Rouge said, smirking. “I can bring him ‘round to it.”

“Then it shall be Rouge who will kill the Echidna,” Omega said.

“Nobody’s killing anyone, Omega,” Rouge said, annoyed.

“Declaration: I hate this mission, why am I even here?!”

**Angel Island**

Within the Chamber of the Master Emerald sits its Guardian. Knuckles the Echidna meditates next to the Gem, feeling its energies pulsate through the room. Those same energies keep the island afloat coursed through him, matching his tempo.

“What do you want, Rouge?” Knuckles asked, not even bothering to open his eyes.

Rouge dropped from the shadows on the ceiling and alighted on the ground. 

“You’re getting good at this,” she said.

“You let me find you,” Knuckles grumbled.

He finally opened his eyes and stood up, stretching.

“Why are you here?” he asked, bluntly.

“Aww, is that anyway to treat a guest?” Rouge asked, faux-hurt. “I flew all the way up here on my little bat-wings just to see you and your first reaction is to-”

“The island could feel the GUN copter settle down,” Knuckles said. “It’s in the south east. Since you came with them I assume this is business?”

“You’re allergic to small talk, aren’t you?”

“Rouge…”

“Fine fine,” the bat said, rolling her eyes. “Commander Tower has discovered a new Gem formed from the merge of Chaos Emerald and Anarchy Beryl. It’s extremely powerful and was sealed off by Tikaal’s father. We wanted to get your help in getting it. Deal?”

“What does GUN want with the Emerald?” Knuckles asked, incredulously.

“Just to keep it out of Robotnik’s hands,” Rouge replied, curtly.

“Probably want to power some new WMD,” he grumbled.

“Whether or not they do,” Rouge said, rolling her eyes. “I don’t want it laying around for a certain Egg shaped Emperor to snatch up. So you in?”

Knuckles weighed his options. He could call Vector and the Chaotix to defend the Master Emerald, and he could bring Sonic and Tails in. Rouge and the Military were hardly the most trustful of people, but he’d rather they have it than Robotnik.

He sighed, “I’m going to regret this.”

“Hah,” Rouge said, clapping her hands together and grabbing his arm. “Oh Knuckles where’s your sense of adventure? You and me, hunting for Gems, exploring lost ruins.”

“I’m bringing Sonic,” Knuckles said.

“And I’m bringing his faker,” Rouge said with a shrug. “We’ll make a day of it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So some things for anyone not familiar with all the weird Sonic Cannon  
> Abraham Tower is the GUN Commander from Shadow the Hedgehog. Archie Comics gave him a name and, while it might only be canon there, that's what he'll be called.  
> Ix and the Nocturnus clan were the villainous Echidna splinter faction from Sonic Chronicles Dark Brotherhood.  
> Anarchy Beryl is from the Archie Comics as is Moebius. They're Chaos Emeralds from a universe with Irish Knuckles.


	2. The Temple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Sonic and Team Dark find the Echidna Temple.

“Power,” Shadow mused. “In all of history its sought after. To raise statuses, to control others, to allow oneself the bare amount of autonomy. Even today with a supposed equal playing-field we too continue to seek power. Any peace we can bring can only be attained by being the strongest.”

Shadow stared into the sunset silently pondering his philosophy.

“In the end this is why I seek power. For those who can’t. For those who would be stepped on and beaten down by others. For those who can’t defend themselves.”

“Hey, what’s Shadow doing?” Knuckles asked.

Team Sonic and Team Dark had assembled at an ancient set of Echidna ruins. The GUN Copter had dropped off a mobile set of computers for Tails to use and departed to resupply. Tails was busy running diagnostics on the Echidna temple in front of them. It was three stories tall but stretched down into the earth to an unknown depth. Sonic was doing stretches in anticipation for what was sure to be a workout. Shadow had hopped up onto a ruined pillar and hadn’t come down since they landed.

“He’s brooding,” Rouge said, glancing at her teammate. “He does that before every mission. Needs to find some high point and stare out dramatically into the middle distance. It’s his thing.”

“We have agreed that he can only do that for four minutes at most,” E-123 Omega said. “Every minute he spends brooding is a minute we could have used to be killing things.”

“It’s going to be a long day,” Knuckles grumbled.

With the scans, warm-ups, and broodings done, the six converged on the entrance to the Temple. Though the building was worn and crumbling, the door remained in excellent condition, as pristine as the day it had been installed. It was a massive stone slab with seven gems embedded in it. They represented the Chaos Emeralds but Knuckles revealed that they were less powerful imitations. The door was adorned in various ruins indicating the different Echidna tribes. 

“The magic in this door,” Knuckles said. “Will judge any who appear before it. It needs to see if we are pure of heart and only then will it allow us entrance.”

Rouge sucked her breath in and scratched the back of her head awkwardly, “Is there any other way in?”

“No,” Knuckles replied. “The ancients wanted to stop any who could enter and-”

Knuckles was interrupted by a rocket fired from Omega at the door. The explosion made the entirety of Team Sonic jump, Shadow just let out a small smile.

When the smoke cleared, the door was still as pristine as it was when it was first carved.

“Blast,” Omega said. “I was hoping that would work.”

“The door is magically protected,” Knuckles said. “It’s why it has been spared from the elements and age. Also, this is a sacred artifact! Stop trying to destroy my culture! It took millennia to build this entrance!”

“Understood,” Omega said, before turning and firing a missile at the wall next to the door.

This time the destruction was achieved and a massive hole was blasted through the ancient stone.

“A millennia to seal off and a second to open,” Omega replied. “The door had a magic purity gauge, but the wall did not. No door can judge me and no door shall stand in my way.”

Knuckles just stared at the hole, dumbstruck. Millenia old stonework from the ancient clans, destroyed in a second by a trigger-happy Super-Badnik.

“Come, we have more things to destroy,” Omega said, lumbering through the hole, followed by Shadow and Tails.

Sonic let out a whistle at the damage, “Well, at least we’re in. You ok, Knux?”

“I-I need a minute,” Knuckles said, rubbing his forehead. “Goddamnit.”

Sonic nodded and went ahead, Rouge stood by Knuckles as he regained his composure.

“You ready?” she asked.

“No more blowing up my people’s history, got it?”

“I’ll do what I can.”

The two joined the others in the temple where Omega had activated the first trap. Dozens of crossbows deployed from the wall, a set of gears connecting them together and allowing them to fire and reload with ease. The Gems energies had preserved the mechanisms after all of these years and they fired a hail of arrows at the Badnik.

Said arrows struck him and fell to the ground harmlessly.

“Cute,” Omega said. 

He raised his arm to the wall when, Knuckles said, “Ok, no more breaking the temple. This is important to my history.”

“That ranks its importance as well below average,” Omega said. “Preparing to create another door.”

“Omega, we should listen to him,” Rouge said. “He has knowledge of how this place was designed and what we could potentially face in here.”

“A vote then,” Omega said, turning to the others. “All those in favor of leveling this temple?”

“Nay,” everyone replied.

“You’re all dead to me,” Omega said.

“Alright, here’s how we can do it,” Knuckles said, walking over to the wall of spent crossbows.

Embedded on the wall was a jewel, similar to the ones embedded in the door. It was the power source of the crossbow contraption and the reason for its preservation.

“This,” Knuckles tapped the jewel. “Is an Imperfect Chaos Emerald. They were manufactured by Nocturnus Scientists as a short term means to power weaponry and defense. They’ve got similar properties to Chaos Emeralds but are often less powerful or less stable.”

“Weak like the arrows it powered,” Omega said.

“Yeah,” Knuckles said. “Anyway, they’re not Chaos Emeralds but they have the same properties as them. Thus… they can be _controlled_ in a similar way.”

“Hmm,” Shadow said, realization dawning on his face. “I knew there was a reason we brought you.”

Knuckles wrapped his knuckles against the Gem and stepped back, “All yours Shadow.”

Shadow walked forward and placed his hand on the stone.

“Chaos Control!”

In an instant the powers of the Imperfect Chaos Emerald were laid bare to him. The Emeralds in the temple were all connected, each maintaining doors, traps, and other defenses. Shadow immediately had the traps deactivated and the doors all opened. The network of Imperfect Emeralds was a powerful defense system against rival tribes and any unworthy marauders who’d dare enter; an intricate and durable defense that could stand the test of time.

But against a wielder of Chaos Control it was as brittle as a spiders web to a malevolent child.

Shadow released the Gem and stepped back, “It’s done.”

“And the Gem we’re looking for?” Knuckles asked.

“Central chamber,” Shadow said. “Four stories down. There’s was a trap that triggers when you remove it; the whole temple would sink into sand. Keyword being that there _was_ a trap.”

“So it’s just like that huh?” Sonic asked. “One Chaos Control and it’s all solved?”

“Doubtful,” Knuckles said. “Keep aware. We never know what could jump up at us.”

“The temple will tragically remain intact,” Omega stated, his monotone voice perhaps indicating disappointment.

“Time’s wasting,” Rouge said, clapping her hands together. “I can’t wait to get my hands on that new Gem. Maybe we should take the Imperfect Emeralds too as a bonus?”

“No,” Knuckles stated as they headed toward the exit. “They stay. They’ll allow the Temple to stay standing in the face of time.”

“Oh, if you insist,” Rouge said, playfully.

“I do,” Knuckles replied, seriously.


	3. The Chamber

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team finds the Gem, but something finds them.

With that he marched to the front of the group and lead them down. Getting to the main chamber was easy. The doors were all open and the traps were disarmed. Overhead several lesser Gems provided light sources, illuminating the corridors for all to see. Knuckles turned to one of the wall carvings, an image of the first Enerjak, standing with a Chaos Emerald held above his head. Dozens of Echidnas lay down in worship at his feet.

“Interesting image,” Rouge said, stopping next to him. “What is it?”

“An old picture of the Echidna Demigod,” Knuckles replied. “He wielded power beyond compare.”

“He predated the Merged Gem within these halls right?” Rouge asked. 

“Yes,” Knuckles said, reading more of the writing on the wall. “The mural is actually a criticism of the Gem hidden within the temple. Several followers of Enerjak’s teaching saw the Chaos Emeralds as holy and the merge of it with Anarchy Beryl as blasphemous.”

“Curious that this was carved into the temple housing the Gem,” Rouge mused.

“The creators found it necessary to log the criticism of the Gem into its resting place. To give a more full view of history.”

Rouge clapped him on the shoulder, “They’ve gotten to the next room, c’mon.”

“What will GUN do with the Gem?” Knuckles asked.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Rouge replied, truthfully. “We’re just the retrieval team.”

“Probably build some kind of super cannon around it,” Knuckles said. “Blow the rest of the moon up this time.”

“I fail to see the problem with that,” Omega called out from up ahead.

“I’ll tell you what,” Rouge said. “After this is done you can have a talk with the Commander about what he’ll do with the Gem. I’ll set you up with a meeting.”

“Why?” Knuckles asked.

“Because he’s the one who has the final say on what’s done with it.”

“No. Why would you go out of your way to set a meeting like that up?”

Rouge was taken aback by that question, “Because it’s important to you?”

Neither new how to reply to that so they simply broke the conversation off and followed the others. After an hour of trekking they finally arrived at the central chamber. The wall was littered with murals depicting the merge and the Gems destruction of any machinery it was to power. The theft of the Gem from the Nocturnus Clan was carved into the wall on the right; next to that incident was the Clan deliberation to keep the Gem off limits from greater Echidna society, a decision which Imperator Ix was begrudgingly forced to accept.

In the center of the room was the Gem itself. It glowed a much more lime shade of green than the average Anarchy Beryl and its form was that of a cylinder with facets at each end rather than its normal diamond shape.

“Traps?” Sonic asked. 

“You think I missed any?” Shadow retorted.

Tails took off and hovered around the room, scanning with his handheld tablet.

“Let’s just get this,” Knuckles said. “Before-”

As if on que, a blue cloth flew into the room from behind them. It hovered up in the air, an image of a Badnik with a top hat was on it, and fell to the floor. Behind the cloth was an Egg Robo dressed in an orange tuxedo with an orange top hat.

“Greetings,” she said, tipping her hat to them. “I am the Heavy Magician. I sincerely thank you for deactivating the temple’s traps and now I-”

The Heavy Magician was interrupted by a missile impacting with her chest, sending her flying into the far end of the chamber. She crashed to the ground and rolled to a stop at the wall, smoke rising from the new hole in her torso.

“Exposition,” Omega said, lowering his projectile arm. “A fools substitute for violence.”

“There’s probably more coming,” Knuckles said.

“Scans show nothing,” Tails said, referring to the Gem and potential traps around it. “I’m going for it.”

The fox flew towards the glowing Power Gem. Right as he was about to touch it, a rabbit plushie leapt from the discarded top hat towards tails and exploded.

“Tails!” Sonic yelled as the fox crashed to the ground, stunned.

The Magician sprang to her feet and snatched the glowing Gem from the Pedestal right as Sonic and Shadow sped toward it. She shoved it into the injury on her chest and the power surged through her frame. 

Sonic diverted his course and touched down next to tails, checking to see if he was alive. Shadow hit the Heavy Magician with a spin dash, but she summoned a green barrier in his way. He bounced off harmlessly and crashed into the pedestal the Gem had been placed on.

“It’s like hitting a damn wall,” he said, rubbing his neck. “Except with absolutely no give.”

“Tails, are you ok?!” Sonic asked, cradling the fox and holding up three fingers. “How many fingers am I holding up?”

“February,” Tails said, his eyes not focused on anything in particular. 

“Well, well, it’s time for Act 2!” The Heavy Magician said, her voice now with added reverb. 

She snapped her fingers and her hat began to spin and flew at her. She caught it and produced her wand in her other hand. She tapped the hat three times and said,

“For my next trick, reinforcements!”

Immediately eight Badniks flew out of the hat. They resembled Shadow but built from gray and orange metal. They wore neutral expressions but their claws itched for battle.

“Fakers of a faker,” Sonic said, shaking his head.

“You all remember the Shadow Androids?” The Heavy Magician asked. “Well, it’s time for a reunion.”

Omega immediately opened fire on the group with his gatling guns and they scattered. They darted around the room in a series of spin dashes or just standard speed maneuvers. Omega managed to blow a quill off of one before he was beset by a trio and knocked back through simultaneous spin dashes.

Sonic hoisted Tails onto his back before taking off with a pair of Androids in pursuit. Shadow only managed to get back on his feet before taking roundhouse kick from another Android to his side. Knuckles and Rouge hunkered down as the remaining two descended upon them.

“Any ideas?” Knuckles called, holding up his fists in a guard stance as the Android rained blow after blow down on him.

Rouge evaded a slash from the Android targeting her and landed a powerful kick to its chest, denting it and sending it flying back, “Powered Gem or not, there’s still six of us and one of her. Can’t be too hard.”

Shadow headbutted his android, summoned a Chaos Spear, and hurled it at the Heavy Magician. She summoned a portal with ease in front of it right as it was about to hit her and summoned another portal right behind Knuckles.

“Knuckles move!” Rouge shouted, shoving him out of the way.

As she did, the Spear came through the portal and tore through one of her wings. Rouge let out a cry of pain and crashed to the ground.

“Rouge!” Knuckles shouted, trying to reach her, only for an Android to come up behind him and put him in a full nelson.

The trio of Androids fighting Omega were pushing him back. The struck him with a spin dash, bounced back and then struck again. They kept striking him rapidly and keeping him off balance. Finally, Omega snatched one out of the air and spun his upper body around, swatting the other two with their comrade. With the pair knocked away, Omega tore off the Android’s head and crushed it in his hand. 

Knuckles overpowered the Android grabbing him and threw it off before rushing to Rouge.

“Rouge… Rouge, are you ok?” Knuckles asked, lifting the bat up.

Rouge stared up in a daze before shaking her head. “I have a hole in my wing! I’m not fucking ok!”

The two Shadow Androids rushed them again. Knuckles dodged to the side, still holding Rouge.

“Put me down,” Rouge snapped, indignantly. “I can’t fly, I can still walk.”

One of the Robots charged at them from the front, giving Rouge an idea.

“Toss me,” she said. “I’ll take top, you take bottom.”

Knuckles nodded and threw Rouge in the air. She spun and slammed her heel into a powerful downward kick onto the Android’s head just as Knuckles hit it with an uppercut, smashing it.

As Sonic ran, Tails regained consciousness and took off from his back. With his arms free, Sonic curled into a ball and met one Android’s spin dash with his own. Their forms slammed against each other, but Sonic’s superior strength and speed won out and he ground the Android to bits. As he recovered from the attack, the other Android tackled him. 

Sonic was able to pull the Robot off and punch it in the face, cracking its eye.

“Aw man, I feel like I’m destroying something beautiful,” Sonic snarked, roundhouse kicking the robot.

The Android caught his kick, but before it could do anything, a chaos spear erupted from its face, knocking out its damaged eye. It fell over deactivated, and Sonic looked to Shadow standing behind it.

“Can’t beat the real thing,” he said with a smirk.

Tails flew at the Heavy Magician weaving around the blasts of green lightening she threw at him. He could see the Power Gem quite well, it was simply lying, unsecured, in her chest cavity. It didn’t seem to be held in place by anything. 

“Pick a card!” she said, producing a deck of cards from her hat. “Every card!”

She shuffled the deck with one hand and squeezed both ends, firing the cards forward. They struck tails with the force of a wall and knocked him to the ground.

Omega activated the gatling gun on his left arm and advanced toward the Magician. As he did, a Shadow Android charged at him, only for the E-Series Badnik to grab it by the leg, dangle it effortlessly in front of himself, and unload the gatling gun into it, reducing the Android to scrap. He fired a missile at her, she dodged to the side and opened a portal for the projectile. Another portal opened behind Omega, but he was ready, he spun his torso to face it and fired his gatling gun into it, destroying the missile and riddling the Magician with bullets. She in turn pushed the portal forward, enveloping his arm and severing it when the portal closed.

“Knuckles,” Rouge said, dodging a slash from an Android. “I hate to say this, but we might need to bury the temple.”

“What?!” he shouted, tackling the Android away from her.

“Have Shadow reactivate the defenses,” Rouge said, rushing to him as the Android threw the Echidna off. “The final trap can entomb her.”

The ducked under a swipe from the robot and delivered a powerful kick to its left kneecap, shattering it and sending the leg flying.

“I’m sorry about your temple,” she said.

“Forget the temple, what about us?” Knuckles asked, punching the injured Android with enough force to crush an eye. “How do we not get buried along with this place?”

Rouge paused to consider that as Knuckles made the robot’s head concave with two more blows.

“Knuckles, I’m in a lot of pain right now and I can’t think straight,” Rouge admitted.

“Yeah,” he replied, standing up from the smashed robot. “That plan is dumb enough to be something I would have thought of.”

Rouge chuckled in spite of herself.

Sonic and Shadow each spun at the Magician from different sides. She kept summoning green forcefields to deflect them, knocking them back with ease.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enerjak is from the Archie Comics.
> 
> Heavy Magician is from Sonic Mania.
> 
> The Shadow Android design is based on the one used in the IDW comics.


	4. Melee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle draws to a close. The victors consider what to do next.

“The fox thing is alive,” Omega said, grabbing the dazed Tails. 

“How is he?” Sonic asked, before sprinting away to avoid a lightning strike.

“Mommy,” Tails said, weakly. “I’m sorry I turned the ice tray into a weapon. I just wanted to swim.”

Omega looked to the fox and then looked back up. “He babbles as incoherently as he does normally. He is fine. Probably.”

Shadow spin dashed up the wall and hurled himself at the Heavy Magician. She erected a green barrier, but this time he was ready.

“Chaos Blast,” Shadow shouted.

A surge of Chaos energy flew out and struck the barrier, shattering it and knocking the Heavy Magician to the floor. Shadow summoned a Chaos Spear and went in for the kill, only to be hit by a Shadow Android in a flying tackle.

The other Shadow Android charged Knuckles and threw a punch. Knuckles met it with his own punch and when the blows struck, the Android’s hand shattered. He was called Knuckles for a reason. The Shadow Android staggered back as Rouge leapt over the Echidna and hit it with a spin kick. This sent the Android flying straight towards Omega who brought a metal fist down on top of it, destroying the robot.

“The inferior models are almost all out of commission,” Omega said, as Tails shook his head to regain his bearings.

“The Gem,” Tails yelled. “Hit her hard enough and she’ll drop it.”

“Trying,” Sonic said, speeding away from another blast of lightening. “Any other ideas?”

“Try a double Chaos Control,” Tails shouted. “It’s not all Chaos Emerald, but with the two of you, you might be able to get something.”

Sonic and Shadow looked at each other and nodded. They sped around the room, dodging her attacks.

“Chaos Control!” Both shouted in unison. 

The Gem erupted in a blast of green energy. The Heavy Magician let out a scream of frustration as she tried to channel it properly.

“It’s working!” Sonic shouted.

Right then, the Magician grabbed the cascading bolts of energy with her hands and twisted them into twin pillars of power, slamming into the two hedgehogs.

“It is not working,” Omega said.

Sonic and Shadow flew to opposite ends of the room, slamming into the walls.

“Shit,” Rouge said, before turning to Knuckles. “You mentioned being able to commune with the Master Emerald.”

“Yeah, the _Master_ Emerald,” Knuckles said. “Not… whatever that thing is. I can’t even do Chaos Control.”

“Knuckles, we’re desperate,” Rouge said. “The Hedgehogs can’t do it, Omega’s missing an arm, and Tails might have a concussion.”

“I’m fine!” Tails snapped, just as he began tasting colors.

“You cannot win!” The Heavy Magician declared. “Through my power, I’ll make you all disappear!”

She began lobbing crackling green orbs of power at the Hedgehogs as they sprang to their feet and sped around her. 

“You can do this,” Rouge said. 

Knuckles sighed, “Fine. Omega, toss me at her.”

The Robot grabbed the Echidna and hoisted him in the air, looking for an opening. Finally, the Hard Boiled Heavy turned her back to them as she fired off more playing cards at the Hedgehogs. Omega hurled Knuckles at her.

The Echidna flew straight at her, fists outstretched, dreads allowing him to correct his position and not spin head over heels. He crashed straight into her back, spiked knuckles puncturing her metallic shell. 

“Gah!” she exclaimed, stumbling forward.

Knuckles climbed around her spherical torso as he would any structure, stabbing his spikes into her.

“Unhand me!” she shouted, just as he grabbed the Gem.

Immediately he could feel the energies surge through him. He could see the various clans’ contact with the Gem and their attempts to control it. Its power was erratic, unpredictable. Had the Badnik grabbed it on another day it might have given her no power, or it might have just drained the energy she had. 

“Let go!” she yelled. “This power belongs to Robotnik and his forces alone!”

“Not happening!” he yelled. “This was never yours to take.”

The Magician grabbed him and tried to pull him off, but he held tight to her Gem. With the presence of a more familiar Echidna presence, the energies began to reject the Badnik. As she tugged at him, he tugged at the Gem, loosening it even more from her torso. 

That was the moment Rouge was waiting for. With the Badnik distracted she had Omega pick her up and throw her at the Magician’s back. Rouge landed a powerful kick, dislodging the Gem for good. Knuckles went flying, but managed to pull himself out of a fall with his gliding abilities. Rouge was not so lucky and crashed to the ground on top of her injured wing. The Heavy Magician was even less lucky as then she struck the ground, her torso (already compromised from missile fire, gun fire, a Chaos Blast, and several blows) gave way and she split in half.

“Thank you for coming to the show,” The Magician said, fishing a warp ring out of her hat.

She tossed it and a portal opened. The surviving Shadow Android flew to her, grabbed her top half, and disappeared into the gateway. As she disappeared into the portal she tipped her hat towards them once more.

With the portal closed, the six adventurers were left in the temple; beaten but victorious.

“Nice save Knux!” Sonic said, running up and clapping Knuckles on the back.

“We all knew you could do it,” Rouge said, from her position on the floor.

“I did not,” Omega said, retrieving his severed arm.

Sonic rushed over to check on Tails while Knuckles handed the Gem to Shadow. The Echidna walked over to Rouge, still lying on the ground.

“You ok?” he asked, reaching an arm down to her.

She accepted the arm and let him pull her up.

“The wing will heal. We did a tidy job here all things considered. We captured the Gem and most of your temple stayed intact.”

Rouge surveyed the room littered with bullet holes, impact craters from where Shadow and Sonic hit the walls, slash marks from the rebounding Shadow Androids, and various burns from the energy blasts. 

“Well, the rest of the temple should be in better shape at least,” Rouge said. “Sorry about all of this.”

“No,” Knuckles replied, shaking his head. “You shouldn’t be sorry; you were right. We had to come here. If Robotnik’s mechs happened upon this place and stole the Gem, then we’d be in serious trouble.”

“Oh I love it when you say I’m right,” Rouge said, smirking at him.

“Don’t get used to it,” Knuckles said, rolling his eyes but smiling in spite of himself.

The six managed to limp out of the Temple to the waiting GUN copter and were flown to the nearest helicarrier. Omega received repair work and Tails got some bed rest. The Gem was confiscated but Commander Tower promised Knuckles a hearing on what its fate would be. Rouge was taken off of active duty until her wing healed up while Sonic and Shadow got into a contest to see who could recover from their wounds faster.

**Later**

“And thus, our scientists were able to get a better reading on the Gem’s erratic nature.” Commander Tower said.

He was meeting with Knuckles and Rouge in GUN Headquarters and reviewing the Gem’s data on his touch screen. Rouge’s wing was bandaged and she was grounded for a few weeks, but Knuckles still took the opportunity for an audience with the Commander to see how she was doing.

“What will be done with it now?” Knuckles asked.

“You need not worry,” Tower said. “We’re having top men handling it.”

“Who?” Knuckles asked, narrowing his eyes.

The Commander returned his glare. “Top. Men.”

**GUN Warehouse #7. Undisclosed location**

_Commander Amanda Tower examined her tablet and nodded, signing the form on it. Before her was a metal casing, magnetically sealed, and lined with lead to mask its energy signature. Tower handed the tablet to the overseeing Agent, codenamed Topaz. Topaz nodded to her and two GUN soldiers loaded it onto a trolley. They pushed it further and further into the warehouse. It was filled with numerous other secret projects and items: a claw from Dark Gaia, captured Black Arms weaponry, deactivated Super Badnik E-107 Theta, and more. This would be the Gem’s final resting place._

Knuckles sighed as he exited the debriefing.

“I don’t like it,” he said.

“Would you like it if Eggman had it?” Rouge asked, limping after him.

“We should have just had Shadow trigger the trap and bury the whole Temple,” he replied.

“Eggman finds out its location, sends a team of Grounder Badniks and gets a hold of it,” Rouge said. “I prefer not to dwell on what could have been.”

“And how do we know he won’t just steal if from GUN?” Knuckles asked.

“Oh, there’s much more valuable treasures to steal from us than some hard to control fusion Gem,” Rouge said, waving the question off.

“What about you?” Knuckles asked. “How’s the wing?”

“It’ll heal,” Rouge said. “Shadow sent me some apology chocolate.”

“Thanks,” Knuckles said. “That could have screwed me up pretty bad.”

“I’m sure you’d only have lost a few rings,” Rouge replied. “What’s next for you? Back to Angel Island?”

“Probably,” he said. “Get some peace and quiet before the next disaster comes. Maybe Eggman will lose control of some all powerful deity again. I don’t know, something will come up.”

“You want to get some lunch then?” Rouge asked. “The mess hall is down a floor.”

“Eh, Vector can handle the Emerald for a few more hours,” Knuckles said, following her. “So what, you guys get free meals here?”

“And free medical,” Rouge said. “It’s a good deal, even if they keep trying to stop me from stealing all the time.”

“I’m going to guess the keyword in that sentence is try,” Knuckles said.

“You guess correct!” Rouge replied with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sonic Sez
> 
> “Hey kids, Sonic here,” Sonic said, spin dashing right up past a giant sign that read Sonic Says. “We had a lot of fun today. We stopped Dr. Eggman from getting a powerful Emerald and we all learned about friendship. Way past cool.”
> 
> “Who are you speaking to?” Omega demanded, shoving the sign out of the way.
> 
> “But you know what’s also cool?” Sonic asked.
> 
> “You speak to nobody, have you finally gone insane?” Omega asked in return, looking around to find Sonic’s audience.
> 
> “Knowing the serving size on your food,” Sonic said, taking out a bag of chips. “It’s important to know how much sugar, sodium, and calories are in your snacks, but that’s not all you need. You also need to know how much the serving size is. 200 calories is only for 15 chips, but what if you ate 30? Then you’d need to double the information to properly understand how many calories you consumed. Isn’t that right Omega?”
> 
> “I am a robot,” Omega replied. “I do not need to consume the same nutrients as you organics do. This information is even more useless than what usually comes out of your mouth.”
> 
> “See kids, eating Healthy is important,” Sonic said, giving a thumbs up. “You might not be able to run as fast as I can, but you too can eat healthy.”
> 
> “I’ve seen you consume a dozen Chilidogs in one sitting,” Omega said. “In addition to being disgusting, I doubt that is healthy.”
> 
> “Uhhhh,” Sonic said, scratching his head. “Tune in next week for another exciting adventure.”
> 
> “This is not a TV show,” Omega said. "Why are you like this?!"


End file.
